Yet the deadline of Aug. 31 came and went without one.

"The deadline for signing has long since come and gone."

But even that deadline could come and go without charges.

"Our new deadline is going to stretch all of us very far," he explained.

Too many other deadlines had come and gone, they said.

But the deadline came and went without any news about the hostages.

But the deadline for the bus convoy has come and gone.

The following day, another deadline on Olive came and went.

She said that "the deadline came and went" without the questions being answered.

But the deadline came and went with no word on his fate.